Award and con aftermath and beginnings of a con report

Just confirmed this - I'll be one of the Goldie winners speaking on author Lara Zielinsky's show "Readings in Lesbian and Bisexual Women's Fiction" on Thursday, June 10th, 10:30 PM Eastern.

And have been asked to contribute something for the NakedI Blog, a new collective blog for erotica writers to 'expose' themselves in whatever way appeals to them (fiction, photos, etc.). I'm pretty sure the page isn't worksafe but the content is quite entertaining and most of it isn't particularly lurid. No idea what I'll do for it yet.

Other than that, I feel the way you do when you've done waaaaaay too much in a two week time span and now have to play catch-up.

A-Kon, the con report, which may be followed by more as I think of it.

• Thursday. Flew in without incident, was transported to the hotel, got a nice room, went to dinner with Lee and George Martindale, Esther Friesner, and the fabulous Jamie Boughen, who got me invited to the shindig to begin with. Had a lovely time, though dinner was a bit barbecuey for me..
• Friday. Did three panels in a row. An amiable con volunteer brought in a sandwich and tea, lest I faint, which was much appreciated. The three panels involved setting writing and other genre hooks, cautionary tales and repeating themes in sf/f. All were reasonably well attended and lively. Then I got a couple of hours off, during which time I checked on George at our book table, and clawed my way up to my room to collapse for a bit (16,000 or so fans in one hotel = elevator and escalator problems, big surprise). Got some writing done, then met Lynn Abbey, Lee and eventually, George for dinner before going off to my reading at 11:15. Said reading was attended only by a nice young man named Bob who was costumed as some sort of lint roller-like creature from a Japanese video game I was unfamiliar with. We chatted about writing and the con for a bit, then he went off to do his thing. I dismissed the amiable young volunteers (and their stuffed turtle) from their duties and went off to bed.
• A-Kon was even larger the next day. Many costumes of WOW, many costumes of "Whoa, was that a bad idea!" in endless variety. I believe I have now seen (but not handled) every conceivable form of cat girl. Yes, there was even a Cat Woman. Probably more than one.
• Saturday. More panels, 4 of them to be precise. Agents, business issues for writers, women in sf&f, and the very first ever LGBT panel at A-Kon. I wore most of my costume, minus the corset since I couldn't sit in it for three hours running and the best candidate for lacing me up was working the table. But it was still cool. :-) The panels went well - I chatted (and argued with, depending on the panel) with Peter Beagle, Ted Knowles, Lynn Abbey, Esther Friesner, Melanie Fletcher, Terrance Griep, Lee Martindale and Jan scott-frazier. It was fun and we got to see a number of the same audience members, plus new faces as the day wore on. Saturday evening was barbecue, Abney Park and oh yes, award news (see last 2 posts).
• Sunday. Migraine morning. Breakfast, then room. Then, table. Then, you guessed it, 2 more panels, one on editing and one on writing process, I believe. Comment from the audience to me: "Are you on EVERYTHING?" Me: "Pretty much. Sick of me yet?" Audience: Chorus of Nos. From there, whisked off to airport after some more elevator hijinks.

Was it fun? Yes. Was it pretty overwhelming? Yes, that too. People were quite nice. It was a much bigger and younger con than I've been accustomed to, so I think venturing outside the comfort zone was all good.
I was asked if I could make it back next year, so evidently I was a success (I had to say no for 2011 because I want to go to Gaylaxicon in Atlanta in the spring) but apparently 2012 may be an option. I loved the folks I got to panel with. And Abney Park, totally awesome. Now to go catch up on sleep.